This invention relates to pest control, and is particularly concerned with cockroaches which are any of the numerous orthopterous insects of the family Blattidae and characterized by aa flattened body, rapid movements, and nocturnal habits, and many of which are household pests. Roaches are known worldwide as persistent vermin that scavenge and travel through sewers and the like. Accordingly, they are carriers of filth and are considered to be carriers of disease, and therefore are unwanted in the domestic household. However, as much precaution as a person might resort to, to barricade roaches from the household, or to kill them, they still persist in entry into households. And a main port of entry into a household used by these vermin is through the waste plumbing that extends openly to the sewers. Therefore, it is a general object of this invention to prevent ingress of roaches through waste plumbing, by providing an effecitve trap in said plumbing between the sewer and the interior of the household or any like building structure.
Roaches are not deterred by the presence of water and they thrive in their passage through sewers and plumbing pipes, and they pass through water traps with ease. Further, they are known to jump and to bridge across crevices and openings, and they are capable of clinging to and traveling upon most any surface. The inner diameter surface of sewers and plumbing pipe is ideal for roach travel, it being an object of this invention to establish a substantial opening that must be bridged by the roaches in their travel up a sewer or plumbing pipe. It is also an object of this invention to provide a trap which must be trespassed upon by the roaches when attempting to pass the aforesaid opening, whereby the roaches can be subjected to killing means.
Sewer and plumbing pipes are of tubular elongated cylinder form, waste pipes being of substantial diameter for the passage of solid waste matter, it being an object of this invention to interrupt the inner diameter wall of a waste pipe so that an opening therein enforces travel of the roach over the aforesaid trap and killing means. In practice, the Waste Plumbing Roach Trap of this invention is a unit or modular device in the form of a fitting that is inserted into a vertically disposed section of household plumbing, or any like structural plumbing. The vertical section chosen for installation of this unit is any riser or main entry ahead of a lavatory or watercloset, or any like plumbing facility such as a washing machine and garbage disposer etc.
When cockroaches are confronted there are a number of ways by which they can be killed. They will die when exposed to poisons or toxic substances, they will die when exposed to electrical discharge, or they can be mechanically decimated. The primary object of this invention is to kill the roaches as they are entrained over the aforesaid trap and the killing means, said killing means being shown herein in two forms, a poison trough and an electrical discharge conductor. Characteristically, the trough or conductor are ring-shaped members disposed horizontally in a surrounding chamber of annular configuration.
The effectivness of this roach killer is such as to require the removal of deceased roaches at frequent intervals of time. To this end it is an object of this invention to provide flushing means for washing them down the plumbing in which this unit is installed. Further, it is an object of this invention to provide for restoring the killing means from time to time, preferably with injection means that supplies liquid poison or suitable toxic substance to the aforesaid trough. The electrical killing means operates continuously when energized.